It has been a very smooth sailing month, so much that i when i think back, it was like a very boring month hahaha.

So here’s what happened in the past month!

For Baby

A new leaf

Ya our baby has turned over a new leaf lolol. Last month i labelled him a rebel. But for the past month, he listens.

When we told him no, he would pause/hesitate, and then work his way around to get us to say yes lolol.

He loves to play with everything that are not his toys -_-. DVD player, amplifier, my make up, papa’s glasses, Champon’s water bottle, Champon’s tail. -_-.

But nowadays he points at something and looks at us to seek approval. After a “no” from us, he would move his finger a few inches away and point at something else nearby (or even a different part of the same item) hopefully our answers would vary LOLOL. Papa’s like, nope. nope. nope. Absolutely nope. nope too.

Yeap that’s his new leaf, before he’s gonna soon grow many more leaves and turn them all over again. >.<

Preferences

I have read that giving your little ones some kind of control over their lives will make them less controlling. So i started letting him pick stuff that he likes (fake democracy. You get to choose from whatever that i have chosen for you lol), shirts to wear, snacks to eat, book to read, shoes to buy.

I wonder why i didn’t do this earlier because i ended up learning so much about him! That he loves green more than blue ( for now). That he prefers bus to any other vehicles. That he has good taste like his mom because he picked the shoes i secretly wished he would during shopping lol.

Dig nose

Yeap. -_-

Self-Expressing

He can’t talk much yet (still car car, ball ball,milk milk), but i know that he is now trying to tell me something even though he can’t find the words for it (literally). I feel very helpless for him T____T.

He will now take my hand and pull me to do whatever he wants to do or wants me to do (oh, i lie down on Champon? Okay okay baby). And i also find out that he understands so much more than i thought he did. During a conversation with the danna when i mentioned “let’s go” (to a nice restaurant when we go back to Japan end of the month), and Junya he ran to his stroller and look at me excitedly because he thought we were going out.

First Hair Cut

By papa. Hey, that’s what you married a hairstylist for, y’all.

It doesn’t even count as a hair cut though. Papa was snipping off 3 strands of hair that grew out of proportion lolol.

He can push this thing around the house for hourssssss. Except the grass he is trying to cut not is imaginary after all.

His grass is this.

I imagine a naked Shiba Inu.

Second Time in Singapore

Hey guys!! You all welcome me ma?

Toddler class

Junya graduated from baby class and moved on to Toddler Class now with Brillkids Family! Recently he is okay to be mixing with other people without me around (read: without me within his arm’s reach, but still at least a torch-light beam reach lol), so that’s a good sign!

Dip in!

Both the danna and i feel that swimming skill is a must for our kid(s). Boys who can swim well are so cool! So this month Junya started his first swimming lesson with teacher Frog*.

Actually both of us have ulterior motif wan. For me is so that my son can save his mother when she drowns. Because i don’t know how to swim T_____T.

For the danna, it is to regain favor for himself to have a common interest with his son, since Junya obviously loves me 99% now (papa 1% lolol).

(*Only put the sticker cuz he swims awesomely like one, not cuz he looks like one, okay. He is very handsome wan.)

Moteru (Popular with the girls)

Hey, chill, girls.

Sleeping through the night… finally.

For both me and Junya. Mostly me.

Omg you know some babies sleep through the night at 4 months old. Mine at 14 -_-.

The cry-it-out thing kinda worked and i considered sleep training a moderate success as he stopped waking up screaming every 2 hours for human pacifier. He is completely weaned off the night, although occasionally he would still cry himself awake but at least could be put back to sleep by gentle pats or a water bottle. But for maybe a couple of months now, he MUST wake me up at 5am or 6am to nurse, no matter what time he slept the night before.

7th September is more significant than any other day because, for the first time in his life, he slept from 8pm-7am. Without a single fuss. Or maybe with some small assorted fuss, i don’t know, because it did not wake me up.

Congratulations, me.

Nom it up!

A lot of mothers say that once the baby sleep through the night, their appetite also shoots up the sky. I do see an improvement in eating!!

He now generally finishes whatever i put in his bowl, although he has clear favorites (carrot, Junya. *pretends full* Tofu? *opens mouth*). But i also noticed that he now prefer stronger tasting food. Before he turned one everything i cook was salt-less, but now i have slowly increased the taste of food by adding baby shoyu and thicker dashi, and he also sometimes share the same food as us now, which is much saltier, so that could be the reason.

But really. Nothing beats seeing your toddler happily chow down food you made him. (Except when he starts making you food instead.)

For Mama

A few weeks ago i went to my gynae for my yearly pap-smear check up. She offered a scan for my uterus just to make sure everything looks fine. Wear and tear, you never know lol. I brought Junya along so that he can meet the person who brought him out to this world.

As she was doing the scan, Junya sat next to me on the bed. I was looking at the ultrasound screen, and everything just felt so surreal.

“Junya, did you know? You were here on the screen! I saw you from here before.” I said to him.

Suddenly i just felt so ovewhelmed. And very thankful. I thought about the people who had to go through obstacles and heartaches to conceive. Some can’t even do so after all the obstacles and heartaches. I am so thankful. And i want to remind myself about this everyday. And i do, every time i look at this little human given to me by the generous universe.

I call Junya my Goma Baby sometimes.

(The first ever time i saw Junya.)
“Did you know? Junya used to be the size of a goma (sesame in Japanese)!!!” i exclaimed to the danna, squinting, gesturing the size of a tiny tiny dot with my thumb and index finger.

“Look at him now!!! This is my goma baby!!! How did he become so big?????” i added, completely in awe.

Hi Cheesie,
I love all your insightful posts on Junya each month. Can you detail a bit more of how you managed to sleep train Junya that he sleeps much better now? Since he’s co sleeping how does the sleep training work? I am like a zombie every single day, 16 months and no sign of sleeping through and weaning 🙁

Hi Amelia! Thanks so much for reading! Actually the drastic change happened the moment i weaned him off completely (including morning). It looks like being able to nurse on demand was causing him to never be able to sleep through. It’s almost like magic, the day he was weaned off the slept through!!!